Blatter: political factors influenced decision to stage 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Football - 19 Sep 2013 - Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, soccer’s international governing body, has admitted that there was a political angle to the controversial award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, but said that a probe presently under way would assess whether there was any impropriety.

The December 2010 decision to hold the tournament in the small Middle East country, where summer temperatures can be as high as 50 degrees Celsius, has come in for heavy criticism and Blatter said that Fifa executive committee members had been influenced by external factors in their voting.

When asked whether there had been pressure from politicians, Blatter said: “Yes, there was definitely direct political influence. European leaders recommended to its voting members to opt for Qatar, because of major economic interests in the country.”

It is thought that Blatter is referring, in part, to the admission of Michel Platini, the president of Uefa, European soccer’s ruling body, that ahead of the vote he was at a dinner with the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the then Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Platini has admitted voting for Qatar to host the World Cup but maintained that he was not influenced by Sarkozy.

When asked about lingering concerns over corruption in the bidding process for the 2022 World Cup, Blatter, who is believed to have voted for the USA bid, said: “We have just [this year] set up a new, independent ethics commission to re-examine the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar.”

Fears over the hot temperatures in Qatar in June and July have prompted calls, including from Blatter and Platini, for the 2022 World Cup to be held in the northern hemisphere winter and this proposal will be discussed at a Uefa executive committee meeting in Dubrovnik, Croatia today and tomorrow.

National federations are thought likely to support the concept, despite the impact it would have on domestic league calendars, on the basis that it is a ‘one-off’ arrangement.

Blatter has said that he expects the Fifa executive committee to endorse a winter World Cup, most likely in November and December of 2022, when it meets early next month.

However, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman of top German club Bayern Munich and the president of the influential European Club Association, has this week suggested that a springtime tournament could work.

He told Sport Bild: “There is quite a difference between November, January or even if it is played in April, which is also not ruled out. In April temperatures in Qatar are actually quite pleasant.”

Football Federation Australia, which mounted an unsuccessful bid for the 2022 World Cup, said this week that it would seek compensation if the tournament was moved to the northern hemisphere winter as it had applied on the basis that it would be held in June and July.

However, Fifa said that the FFA and all other losing bidders had accepted as part of the bidding process that, while the competition was expected to take place in June and/or July the final decision on scheduling was at the discretion of the Fifa organising committee.

Australia is reported to have spent A$43 million ($40 million) on its bid, which attracted just one vote in the election of the host country.